An exercise in modular textures - Scifi lab UDK

[HAWK12HT]

Congrats on finishing this :)... I want to keep it professional so cant curse you really :D for what u have done. Neways since im begining making my own set, I notice that when u scale ur UV set on small texture or large texture you get strectching, especially on areas that use patterns (honecomb). It will look odd haveing just 2 honeycomb pattern on a huge floor piece cause you shrink your UVs to fit on such a small texture. I dont know if you have though about it though :D.

[HAWK12HT]

thought*

[Zelenkov]

Tor ur pretty amazing if you can work full time and pump out these levels every few months. Very inspiring work :)

[Ryswick]

A...

Wow.

[tristamus]

TOR! I don't know if you've seen this, but since your scene is all about optimization technique, I figured it would benefit you GREATLY.

In the latest UDK version (January), you are able to combine static meshes, therefore reduce draw calls, therefore add to the purpose of your exercise here.

Especially because your meshes use the same texture, the new tool allows you to combine meshes, and it regenerates the UV's for that particular "combined" mesh. It is meant to be used only for meshes with like textures....and I'd say that is just what you have here ;]

Mesh Proxy Tool - http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MeshProxyTool.html

[Computron]

TOR! I don't know if you've seen this, but since your scene is all about optimization technique, I figured it would benefit you GREATLY.

In the latest UDK version (January), you are able to combine static meshes, therefore reduce draw calls, therefore add to the purpose of your exercise here.

Especially because your meshes use the same texture, the new tool allows you to combine meshes, and it regenerates the UV's for that particular "combined" mesh. It is meant to be used only for meshes with like textures....and I'd say that is just what you have here ;]

Mesh Proxy Tool - http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/MeshProxyTool.html

this would actually create unique textures for every group at whatever resolution you specify. Every UV will have it's own space, no overlap. That would look much worse and take MORE space. it will make it possible for mobile UDK to render the scene with little trouble though.

[Snefer]

tristamus: Actually, combining meshes that share the same material is already simple. For bulletstorm we could simply select identical meshes then combine them to a new one and repack the lightmap UVs, that is part of the reason why I insisted on keeping one material per prop etc. : )) So if I wanted to, I could easily make the scene into even fewer objects if needed, however, the object-count isnt that high anyway, so I didnt bother.

Also the combine wouldnt work that well for my scene anyway, I dont have a regular UV-layout, or a typical texture, so it would basically ruin all of it. : ))

[dudealan2001]

GIVE ME YOUR BRAIN!
pls
Jesus half of this shit is over my head but damn fantastic work.

[garriola83]

amazing work!

[Scorpyx]

-> Snefer (http://www.polycount.com/forum/member.php?u=19453): style of this video (http://vimeo.com/35470093), and method of creating remind me some (http://goo.gl/igxfN) sort of project demo-scene (http://scene.org/info.php)
This is fantastic work - very inspiring me

ps. And I think the limit could be pushed even further
some modular geometry can add a lot of variability (like your table (http://goo.gl/Jd0FN)) [like lego]
and many other stuff can strengthen life in scene
I wish good luck for you ¦ ]
.

[steppan]

Fantastic work, I have to say this is all very inspiring and you've done a really good job of answering most questions (which for somebody who's just come accross this thread is good because means that by the end of it I pretty much understand the whole process).
Really look forward to getting my hands on the scene [if you're still planning on releasing it that is] and have an even more in-depth look at it.

Again fantastic work, purely inspirational

[Empyreal10]

Hello sir,

I just wanted to stop by and say that this thread has been so inspirational for me that I had to register to thank you (and everyone else for asking excellent questions, too).

This thread actually started around the time I needed to begin work on my thesis, so I ended up adopting/integrating a lot of the technique presented here (and reverse engineering a lot of the material, though I don't think it has all the same functionality yours probably does).

So, thanks again!

[Levus]

Incredible work! Thx for sharing this!

[coots7]

Hey Tor, do you export your models directly from Modo? What file format do you use? What grid units do you use in Modo and what are they equal to in UDK? Do you do smoothing groups in Modo as well? Do you have 2 UV maps per object 1 for texture 1 for light map? Everything exporting correctly for UDK? I'm just curious of your overall workflow from Modo to UDK (if there is one) and any problems you may have had that other Modo users like me would bump into. Thanks!!

[Darkleopard]

That's simply amazing. I don't understand 1/10th of the stuff in this thread. Im currently making a sci-fi space station and i just cant understand how you've used such little texture space. Blowing my mind

[Snefer]

Thanks for all the comments! And I havent forgotten, the scene will be released for download, I'm just waiting for some stuff to clear before releasing it.

coots7: yes I do. For this scene I was using the ASE-exporter that is floating around the net, but nowadays I just use the FBX, since that is much better (much better support for smoothing groups etc) For this scene I actually have 3 UVsets. : ) I actually havent had any problems at all working with modo and UDK, and every problem Ive had Ivefigured out in a few minutes or so.

[Jhill8]

This is absolutely amazing I cant believe what you have done! KEEP IT UP !!

[Chase]

Noob question here concerning merge the maps and the RGB channels. Does each map that goes into the R, G, B channels have to be a grey scale texture sheet? I only ask because somewhere along the lines someone brought up the idea of adding even more maps, 8 grey textures I believe. Color me impressed by the way. Inspirational is an understatement.

[cptSwing]

well yes. the three respective grayscale (0-255) values make up a color value when combined.

[Chase]

How do you determine the outcome of the Diffuse colors? The combined RGB is going to be washed out every time.

[cptSwing]

i don't fully understand your question?

for a regular color diffuse texture with 3 channels, each pixels' color is made up of 3 values, stored in the R,G,B channels respectively. 255 in R, 255 in G, 255 in B make a full white pixel, for instance.

in mix- or mergemaps, the final color output you get by using non-related grayscale maps in the various channels doesn't matter (and usually looks pretty funky). Basically you just use the color texture's channels as a container for 3 varying textures which you use separately. Say you only need a gray specular map, have a gloss map, and maybe an alpha for your asset. instead of importing each of these as a regular dxt diffuse texture, you cram 'em into the channels of a single texture and reduce you video memory footprint.

[Chase]

I was just confused when I read "gray scale" because I thought that meant every texture literally had to be gray. I didn't know how a Normal and Diffuse could be gray when it needed color haha.

I don't want to get off topic, but I feel like it's relevant to this texturing process. If not I'll delete and create a separate thread. I've been confused about combining multiple unwraps into one UV space as well as sharing texture space by combining textures sheets into one:

Let's say you have a few props and a building such as this

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/1769/orangec.jpg

and everything unwrapped into one UV space like this

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/234/unwrap.jpg

What happens if I wanted to export the ladder and drainage pipe to UDK? Does anything happen even though they are tied to the same UV space as the building and everything else? What happens when I apply the textures in UDK to just the ladder and drainage pipe since there are other model unwraps in the UV space?

The same goes for splitting up texture sheets to save memory. If there are separate meshes that I want to import yet they all share the same texture sheet, how do you separate the meshes when creating and importing into UDK?

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/3483/mergew.jpg


Are you confined to the one UV space or can you quick planar map, pelt map, anywhere outside it and UDK will know you're doing this? I don't know how often you would want to use this workflow from the example below, but the texture was created first, then modeled off of allowing you put various pieces around and out the UV space:

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/6393/multiplek.jpg

I know that's a long winded question so thanks for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it!

[LuCh!]

this i crazy amazing, didn't know you could work with channels like that!
already learned a lot so a big thanks for that!
can't wait to explore it more when you realease it!

[Snefer]

So, now its finally out:

The lab is showcased on UDK.com,along with an interview, couldnt be more flattered. : ))))

http://udk.com/showcase-amazing-one-texture

and you can download the scene from here:

Download:

http://www.torfrick.com/ScifiLab.rar

Plz dont look too closely! hehe

[coots7]

congratz on the interview! thanks for the scene! thank you a million times!

[cholden]

Grats on making the official showcase! You win!

[SHEPEIRO]

thats nice.

[biofrost]

Congrats! and thank you for making the scene public. Everyone can learn so much from this!

[Snader]

http://kotaku.com/5896987/you-wont-believe-how-this-stunning-tech-demo-was-made

You got even more promotions!

[nathdevlin]

Congrats on the exposure. Well deserved for such an interesting workflow/technique.

[warby]

congratulations man well deserved

[SirCalalot]

I was just coming to this thread to congratulate you on the exposure, Tor and everyone is already doing it!

Congrats :)

[Jeff Parrott]

Congrats man! You're everywhere with this and totally deserve the praise. Awesome job on this again.

[WarrenM]

The Kotaku thread is great - everyone's a doubter. :)

Congrats Tor!

[LuCh!]

awesome, congratz man, i just saw it in the UDK newsletter! ^^

[Snefer]

Thanks everyone, I hope it comes to good use and that people dont find the fugly stuff : D

[chazzur]

Wow this project looks fantastic and your use of the texture blows my mind 0_0! Simply amazing work.

[BorisK]

this is immense

dude u need to do a tutorial like from start to finish. im a noob and im kinda lost lol

[Teessider]

this is absolutely amazing! As a student this inspires me to want to do just as good!

[PhilipK]

Grats! Now that is good texture usage, makes me happy to see this kind of thinking getting a lot of attention! Great work and well deserved! :)

[chomp]

nice work dude
so inspirational!

[vik]

Hehe, only discovered this thread trough kotaku. Spent the last hour reading trough the thread amazing work! Love the lighting and the colours and the props look ridiculously good when taking the texture sizes into account and how fast you made them.

Only one question left... when is your DVD out? :poly121:

[DirtyMrDucky]

gratz on the showcase and lotsa ♥ for uploading the scene. . . i will be looking closely. . . very closely

[JacqueChoi]

Damnit Snefer!

Stop making the rest of us look bad.


^_^

aweomesauce! thx for the share.
gg

thx

bb

[Computron]

when is your DVD out? :poly121:

:poly121: WHAT?!?!?!


Also, internet commenters, why are you not all professional graphics programmers yet? GAH kotakus comments give me a headache. :thumbdown::poly117:

[felipefrango]

Hah, you're on Kotaku Brasil too. :D

http://www.kotaku.com.br/voce-nao-vai-adivinhar-o-segredo-desta-tech-demo/

[sltrOlsson]

Gratz man! Saw that you got an post over at theawesomer (http://theawesomer.com/one-texture-environment/160816/) to :)

[jengy]

I LOVE UV manipulation techniques. How cool!

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to reading fully through your other posts. C:

[KittenMittns]

very inspiring! excellent work

[danRod]

very nice and super efficient! Love it dude thanks for sharing!

[ZeroNight]

I saw this back when it got featured on the UDK website and was blown away by it. It's some of the most amazing texture work I've seen. :)

[hollaAtMe]

I absolutely love this environment! It's quite amazing!

I've been trying to learn a bit from it, and I had a question about the main material. I'm hoping someone can help me with this.

I was looking through the main material, and what I was most curious about was the Diffuse Color 2 parameter. I was mostly wondering how that is implemented. On the model and UV side of things I mean. It's obvious HOW it is done cause it's right in front of me, but I'm just curious as to what I would need to do to my UVs and texture to utilize the diffuse color 2 parameter.

I was assuming it was a decal, but that doesn't seem to be the case since there is a separate decal color. Then I assumed it was just another UV channel for colorizing random parts of models, but that didn't seem to be the case either. Diffuse Color 2 isn't used extensively in the scene. I noticed it on the desks at first. The top part is red on those.

Just really wondering how this has been implemented.

Would love any assistance anyone can give me!

Thanks!!

[Snefer]

hollaAtMe: The second color comes by offsetting the UVs for those polygons one step to the left : ) Simple as that its then masked out with a black/white mask in a lerp-node.

[hollaAtMe]

AH!

THANK YOU! I figured it'd be something simple. Haha!

Thanks again! :)

[Zer0Naught]

Snefer, seen your scene posted up on Kotaku (I think it was anyway!) and I love it. Love the whole design of it too, which I'm curious about.

May we see the designs of this scene? Or did you just wing it all the way.

[Snefer]

cheers : ) I just winged it all the way with the designs, I had no concepts, or made no concepts for this scene actually ^^

[Zer0Naught]

cheers : ) I just winged it all the way with the designs, I had no concepts, or made no concepts for this scene actually ^^

Hehe, tends to be the way I've been doing things recently!

You been working on anything new?

[luna]

Awesome!!

[fayesmith]

I've been really looking into this and I love your level.

I'm trying to do something similar but I'm not sure how to add the different images to the channels! Is this done in Photoshop?

[fayesmith]

I've been really looking into this and I love your level.

I'm trying to do something similar but I'm not sure how to add the different images to the channels! Is this done in Photoshop?

Nevermind, I did it :D

[TorQue[MoD]]

So just to be clear, this is all using one texture but multiple material instance constants to adjust the color etc. correct? That's how you get the yellow and orange?
Its an absolutely gorgeous environment, don't get me wrong, but I still find it funny that everyone is so blown away by the fact that its one texture. The major reason why this looks so damn sexy is all of the reflections and post effects. Without those, it would just be single colors with a bit of noise from your generic metal map. Its not quite as mind blowing as you might think, but its most definitely an awesome was to get a unique looking environment and some major mileage out of a single texture.

[Tambra86]

great post, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector don't notice this. You must continue your writing. I'm confident, you've a huge readers' base already!wishes you all the best

[Snefer]

TorQue: Yes, you can download it and check it out. I think its more the fact that its one tiny texture, there is not much posteffects at all in this scene tbh, pretty minimal, most of the detail actually comes from the normalmap and efficient UVs, and that I squeezed the TVscreens, plants, and decals in the texture aswell. Visually its not very impressive but memorywise its quite efficient and more a demonstration/experiment in finding methods for saving memory in new ways : )

[marianosteiner]

preety nice!

[Lloydyy89]

I've actually got this level saved on my portable hard drive. I love booting it up and looking at how things are made, it's great inspiration to just walk around in the editor. It's a fantastic looking level, and the use of textures is really, really awesome.

[kaushalsingh]

Nice job!!
The texture quality is clean but that would be impressive to see what you will come out with all these!!
Looking forward to see your final work!

[XXWeaponXX7]

Congratulations, you;ve been featured on the UDK main page. I doubt you don't know that, though...

[Squals]

To Snefer : I was wondering how you were able to extract the decals from the Blue channel or the Screens of the alpha to put over meshs in udk. Basically, how do you 'Crop' the texture to only get that decal onto your models, without setting the uvs directly to that location, since that wont work with the AO and the decals together.

Anyones help on the matter would be great! Thanks.

Squals

[Squals]

Never mind, figured it out.

[Fishypants]

Woah, this is amazing! Great texture optimization!

[DarthBotto]

For me, the lighting is what really carries this scene. The patterns along the walls and windows are very reminiscent of Eld's work on 0x10c, but that lighting really makes a difference.

I'd hope that Mojang would use this as an example for what environment prospects they should pursue.

[mats effect]

The player appears to be a bit taller in your level compared to objects of the same size in a different map? Just wondering how you managed to do that.

Thanks.

[saintsonic]

ive been trying extremely hard to master this technique do you have any advise or videos that would help a noob like me understand this

[krabat]

you use bsp or static mesh for floors and walls?

[Snefer]

krabat: everything is static meshes, if you download it you can take a look, need to be static meshes to be able to use the UVs correctly : )
mats effect: I just hacked it by having the collision higher than the floorplane :)
DarthBotto: thanks alot! Yeah its generic scifi, but it was more a testbed for this method than a real artistic exploration.
saintsonic: download the map, and dissect how the meshes work, see if you can do another prop with the same shader, if you can do that, you pretty much got it ^^

[saintsonic]

i downloaded it and saw what you did, if you want i can send you pictures of the level i made trying to copy the same technique . the only thing that blows my mind is the holograms on the window wall. you uv mapped the hologram onto the window but the bottom of the wall is still grey how did you put two textures on a static mesh. i love your work man its really awesome being inside your level, you can really see you really put your heart into this piece.

[mister_s]

I fell though the map. Obviously very shoddy work ;)

I'm joking of course. That was very cool. Excellent work, sir. The planning must have taken quite a bit of time. It may have already been mentioned but I don't have the energy to get through all 14 pages right now.

[Nicorepe]

Amazing I really Like it!